Michigan Farm Bureau rolls out mobile science lab

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GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. -- You could call it a field trip without the actual trip. The new Michigan Farm Bureau mobile science lab launched Monday, teaching their first lesson at Southwood Elementary School.

Guiding students with pipettes in hand, FARM lab educator Lyndsay Grasman told FOX17 about their first lesson. “The lesson that we’re doing today is called 'parts per', what so we’re talking about parts per million and how contaminants move through a system.”

Grasman isn't new to teaching, but she is new to the FARM Science lab. “Today is day one," explains Michigan Farm Bureau's education manager Tonia Ritter. "This is the first day we’ve actually had classes in the lab.”

Ritter and Grasman are working together to develop the young program. The goal is to help students understand where their food comes from and how Michigan farmers farm. Ritter says, “The more we can help students understand where their food comes from and what farmers do to bring that food to them, we have a much more well-informed consumer.”

To accomplish their goals, Grasman is teaching lessons about water standards, food safety, DNA extraction and alternative plastics. Ritter says, “The cool thing about what we’re doing here in the FARM Science lab is they’re getting their hands into stuff and learning about agriculture, but learning about science concepts at the same time.”

Southwood Elementary is stop number one on the lab tour, with eight more stops in Kent County to go.